I. NAME AND LOCATION
The name of the library shall be “Carnegie Public Library”. The library shall be located at 219 E. 4th Street, East Liverpool, Ohio.
II. OBJECTIVES
The mission of the Carnegie Public Library is to support and enhance the quality of life for all residents of the user area; by providing free and equal access to information and services, in a variety of material formats; and by meeting the educational, recreational, and cultural information needs of its patrons..
III. POLICIES
The Board of Trustees shall have all of the powers granted to it by law and shall, in open meetings, determine and establish, in accordance with law, the basic policies of the library with respect to (a) the appropriation and budgeting of funds; (b) the establishment and maintenance of libraries and library services; (c) the acquisition, improvement, maintenance, insurance, use and disposition of properties; (d) the hiring, compensation and responsibilities of, and the personnel practices concerning librarians and other employees; (e) the selection, collection, lending and disposition of books and other library materials; and (f) the acceptance of gifts. The policies so determined and established by the Board shall remain in effect until changed or rescinded by further action of the Board and shall be administered by the library staff. The Director shall cause a compilation of all operating policies established by the Board to be prepared and kept up to date and to be distributed to the members of the Board and to members of the library staff and to be kept available to the public generally.
IV. OFFICERS
A. Election: At the regular meeting in January of each year, the Board shall select from its membership a President, a Vice-President, and a Secretary who shall serve for a term of one year commencing February 1st. A nominating committee consisting of the current officers will present a slate of officers at the January meeting. Additional nominations may be made from the floor. At the same meeting, the Board shall elect and fix the compensation of a Fiscal Officer who shall serve for a term of one year. A Deputy Fiscal Officer, who may be a member of the Board of Trustees, may also be elected to serve for one year. Each of said officers shall have such powers and duties as are prescribed by the Revised Code of Ohio or by the By-laws or by special action of the Board from time to time to the extent that these By-laws or said actions are consistent with the law of Ohio.
B. Fiscal Officer: The Fiscal Officer shall be the treasurer of the library funds. Before assuming the duties, a bond shall be executed in an amount and with a surety to be approved by the Board, payable to the Board and conditioned for the faithful performance of the official duties required by the Fiscal Officer. All moneys received by the Fiscal Officer for library purposes shall be immediately placed in a depository designated by the Board. The Fiscal Officer shall keep an account of the funds credited to the Board upon such forms as are prescribed and approved by the Ohio Bureau of Inspection and Supervision of Public Offices and shall render a statement to the Board monthly showing the revenues and receipts from whatever sources derived, the disbursement and the purposes for such disbursements, and the assets and liabilities of the Board, and the relation of the several items of the foregoing to the budget. At the end of each fiscal year, the Fiscal Officer shall submit to the Board a complete financial statement showing the receipts and expenditures in detail for the entire fiscal year. In the absence or unavailability of the Fiscal Officer, the Deputy Fiscal Officer shall act for and perform the functions of the Fiscal Officer for which duties the Deputy Fiscal Officer shall execute a bond in the amount and with a surety in the same amount as that required of the Fiscal Officer. The Fiscal Officer shall be responsible for the safekeeping and preservation of the minutes and official records of the Board. The Fiscal Officer shall be present at all regular meetings and special meetings concerning finance.
C. President: The President shall preside at all meetings of the Board, shall in consultation with the Director determine the agenda for each meeting, and shall, with the consent of the Board, determine the order of business thereat. The President shall sign with the Secretary the minutes of each meeting of the Board. The President shall appoint all committees and committee chairs with the consent of the Board and shall serve as an ex-officio member of each committee. The President shall execute on behalf of the Board and when approved by it all such instruments of conveyance, assignment, transfer, contract, indebtedness or lease as, in order to be effective, must be executed by an officer or member of the Board other that or in addition to the Fiscal Officer, and all written reports, applications and statements which law or governmental regulations require to be executed and filed on behalf of the Board by an officer or member of the Board other than or in addition to the Fiscal Officer or Director.
D. Vice-President: In the absence or unavailability of the President or declination to act, the Vice-President shall have all powers and duties of the President, except as otherwise provided by law.
E. Secretary: The Secretary shall sign the minutes of the meetings of the Board and certificates evidencing resolutions or actions of the Board and, when required, shall attest to the signatures and authority of the President, Vice-President, Fiscal Officer or Director and co-sign instruments and writings executed by any of them.
F. Checks: All checks paying out funds of the library shall be signed by the Fiscal Officer or Deputy Fiscal Officer of the Board and the President or Vice-President or Secretary of the Board.
V. COMMITTEES
There shall be special committees, as the Board shall from time to time determine to be advisable. The purpose and charge of each committee shall be clearly defined in writing. The President of the Board shall be an ex-officio member of each committee, and the chair of each committee shall be a member of the Board appointed by the President with the consent of the Board. Each committee shall have such other members, if any, as the Board shall from time to time determine, which members shall be appointed as the Board shall provide and need not be members of the Board.
Except by express approval or action of the Board no committee shall have (a) more than three members of the Board, or (b) authority to make any decision upon any matter, business or policy, within the power or responsibility of the Board itself. Any report or recommendation of a committee to the Board shall be deemed advisory, only, and no member of the Board, whether or not a member of the committee, shall be bound or controlled by any action, report or recommendation of a committee.
VI. DIRECTOR
The Board shall appoint and fix the compensation of the Director who shall be the chief administrator and the librarian of the library. The Director shall have full charge of the administration and operations of the library in accordance with objectives and policies adopted by the Board and under the direction and review of the Board. The Director shall be held responsible for the care of all buildings and equipment, for public relations, for the employment and direction of the library staff, for the selection, acquisition and disposition of books and non-book materials within the annual appropriations adopted by the Board and subject to the general policies from time to time adopted by the Board. The Director shall keep the Board informed as to the program needs, physical plant needs, the desirable expenditures of library funds and any special achievements or problems requiring action by or approval of the Board. The Director shall present at each meeting a report concerning the work of the library and submit for consideration with recommendations all matters requiring action by the Board, and, to that end, shall consult with the President as to the agenda for each meeting of the Board. The Director shall attend all Board meetings except those at which the Director’s appointment or salary is to be discussed or decided. On an annual basis, the Board of Trustees shall evaluate the job performance of the Director.
VII. MEETINGS
A. Time and Notice:
1. Regular meetings of the Board shall be held on the third Wednesday of each month at such time as shall be agreed upon by the Board. Special meetings of the Board may be called at any time by vote of the Board or by the President or Vice-President. Written notice of each meeting of the Board, together with an agenda or statement of the purposes of the meetings shall be mailed by the Director to each member of the Board, at the address designated by the member, at least five (5) days, but no more than two (2) days before a special meeting.
2. Posted Notice: The Director shall cause a written notice of the time and place of each Board meeting to be posted on a prominent bulletin board in the library at least twenty-four (24) hours before the meeting, except that in the event of an emergency requiring immediate official action the notice shall be posted promptly after the meeting is called.
3. Notice to the News Media: The Director shall notify the News Media of all meetings two (2) days in advance.
4. Executive Session: The Board may hold an executive session only after a majority of a quorum of the Board determines, by a roll call vote, to hold such a session and only at a regular or special meeting. The purpose(s) for holding such an executive session shall be as specified in Section 121.22(g), as amended, of the Ohio Revised Code and the purpose(s) shall be included in the motion to hold the session.
5. Committee Meetings: If and whenever a meeting shall be called of a committee either having authority to make a decision for the Board or having four (4) or more members of the Board, such meeting shall be open to the public in accordance with Section 121.22(g) as amended of the Ohio Revised Code, and the purpose(s) shall be included in the motion to hold the session.
6. Public Participation: The Board of Trustees of Carnegie Public Library encourages attendance at its meetings and solicits the advice and counsel of citizens in planning and operating the library. Meetings of the Board of Trustees shall be open to the public. Any citizen who wishes to present a matter of concern to the Board should do so in writing or by a request to be heard by the Board. A written communication or a request to be heard should be received by the Library Director three (3) days prior to the meeting time. Written communication or requests to be heard received less than three (3) days prior to the meeting time may be heard at the next meeting. The Board reserves the right to limit total participation of all requests to be heard to a maximum of thirty (30) minutes per meeting and the request to be heard of a single individual to a maximum of five (5) minutes per meeting.
Any person may obtain advance notification of all meetings, including the time, place, and purpose of all special meetings, by providing the Fiscal Officer-Treasurer’s office with a request for all or part of this information and a stamped, self-addressed envelope for mailing of this information.
B. Place: All meetings of the Board shall be held in the Main Library, unless another place shall be fixed for a particular meeting by agreement of the Board.
C. Quorum: Four (4) persons, a majority of the full membership of the Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, provided that in the absence of a quorum those present may adjourn the meeting from time to time without notice, other than announcement at the meeting, until a quorum is present.
D. Order of Business: The business conducted at any special meeting of the Board shall be limited to the purposes stated in the written notice of such meeting, unless the transaction of other business shall be approved by all of the members present at the meeting. The order of business of each meeting of the Board shall be determined by the presiding officer, consistent with any expressed desires of a majority of the members of the Board present at the meeting.
E. Monthly Reports: No more than two (2) weeks before each regular meeting of the Board, the Director shall mail to each member of the Board, at the address designated by the member, the following reports in such form as the Board shall from time to time request or the laws of Ohio shall require:
• Agenda;
• Minutes of the previous meeting;
• Financial Report;
• Report of current personnel action for approval;
• Report of library service related matters.
A copy of the financial report as so mailed shall be submitted to the Board at the next regular meeting. At that meeting, the President shall inquire of the members present whether there are any questions or objections to the reports as so mailed or the payments or action therein reported. If no correction, amendments or additions to a report as so mailed is made at the meeting and if no objection to the report is made by a member present at the meeting, or is reported to the meeting as having been made by a member absent from the meeting, the reports and the payments and actions therein reported shall be considered as approved by each of the members present without motion, resolution, or roll call thereof; and the Secretary shall so indicate in the minutes of any meeting.
Any member not present at the meeting when a report is considered may at the first regular meeting at which he is thereafter present voice any objection the member may have to any such report or to a payment or action reported therein and have the member’s objection entered in the minutes of the meeting, but such objection shall not unless by motion, resolution, and roll call, the Board shall otherwise decide. Any report to which an addition, amendment, correction or objection is made at the meeting to which it is submitted shall be approved only by motion or resolution and vote of the Board.
F. Voting: Except when a larger vote is required by law, all actions of the Board shall require the affirmative vote of the majority of the Board members present. When a motion is made and seconded to adopt a resolution authorizing; the purchase or sale of real or personal property, or the appointment of a Director, or the employment of personnel, or the election of an officer, or the payment of any debt, or claim, or the contracting or incurrence of any obligation, or the payment of money, or the transfer of property, or the adoption of the annual budget, or appropriation, or upon the request of a member of the Board, the President of the Board shall call the roll of the members of the Board and enter in the minutes of the meeting the names of those voting “aye” and the names of those voting “nay”.
G. Rules of Order: Where not otherwise governed by law or by these Bylaws, the proceedings of the meeting of the Board shall be in accordance with Roberts Rules of Order, as currently revised and published at the time of the meeting.
H. Records of the Library-Public Information: It shall be the policy of the Board of Library Trustees of the Carnegie Public Library to release for public information, and place copies for public view in the library, the official minutes and financial reports after approval by the Board.
All documents which are Public Records shall be available for review and inspection by any person upon reasonable request to the Director.
Official reports of the Board required by the Ohio Revised Code and the Auditor of the State shall be maintained in the Library and available to the public upon request to the Director or Fiscal Officer, if viewing these records does not infringe on privacy rights of individuals.
Copies of the policies of the Board of Library Trustees and of the adopted Job Specifications and Job Classifications of the library staff, and the current Salary Schedule shall be available to the public and the staff. Working papers of committees and correspondence received by the Board of Library Trustees are not considered public documents.
VIII. AMENDMENTS
These Bylaws may be amended at any meeting by the affirmative vote of a majority of the full membership of the Board of Trustees, provided that a notice of the proposed amendment shall have been given with the notice of the meeting.
APPROVED BY THE BOARD OF LIBRARY TRUSTEES, July 21, 2010